Kulish appointed artistic director for Vermont Opera Festival (01/22/06)

Kulish appointed artistic director for Vermont Opera Festival

WAITSFIELD, Vt. - Canadian opera singer, Taras Kulish, bass-baritone, was appointed new artistic director for the Vermont Opera Festival (VOF), as announced on January 13 by the Green Mountain Cultural Center.

With over 10 years of professional singing experience, Mr. Kulish, a native of Montreal, has performed in Canada and internationally in such roles as Figaro in "The Marriage of Figaro," Colline in "La Bohème," Leporello in "Don Giovanni," Basilio in "Il Barbiere de Siviglia," and Raimondo in "Lucia di Lammermoor, " among others. His performances have taken him to France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and England.

Mr. Kulish's most recent engagement was with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as bass soloist in Nielsen's 3rd Symphony. In the fall he will perform the role of Don Magnifico in "La Cenerentola" at the Calgary Opera.

Mr. Kulish's academic background includes music studies at McGill University and opera performance as a graduate student at the University of Toronto.

His performances have been critically singled out for "exemplary diction and a warm masculine bass-baritone, charming the audience with his thespian antics" (Opera News) and "impressive projection and rich timbre" (Opera Canada Magazine).

As the newly appointed artistic director of the Vermont Opera Festival, Mr. Kulish said he looks forward to putting on the festival's first full-length opera production. Alongside the production of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" next summer, the VOF will present several opera excerpt concerts with various themes, including a celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday.

According to Mr. Kulish, his biggest challenge for next summer is to raise funds to provide for the use of a full symphony orchestra for the opera productions. Accordingly, a fund-raising event, including a concert performance, will be held on February 11 at the Bundy Center for the Arts.

The VOF, the only venue of its kind in the state of Vermont, embarks on its sixth season next summer in the Mad River Valley. For now, the festival spans a two-week period, slated for June 11-26; however, Mr. Kulish's long-term plan is to progressively expand the festival to three, and eventually to four, weeks.

Mr. Kulish is also interested in nurturing young talent by eventually implementing a young artist's program at the VOF that would offer training and much-needed performance opportunities.

VOF performances take place at the Barre Opera House - a beautiful European-style theater built in the 1890s with a seating capacity of 650. Rehearsals, as well as various performances, take place at the Round Barn in Waitsfield. The Round Barn, which was built in 1910 and was recently fully restored, is one of only five remaining round barns in Vermont. Certain rehearsals at the Round Barn will be free and open to the public.

There will be an opportunity to meet Mr. Kulish at the February 11 fund-raiser. For more information on the festival or the fund-raiser, readers may call the Green Mountain Cultural Center, (802) 496-7722. Information on the opera house may be found on the website www.barreoperahouse.org.

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